How is your garden looking today?

I planted some flowers in my back yard yesterday; and it's coming along, but it's far from what I want.

I've got a plant which I quite like but it takes forever to flower. It's coming into flower now so I'll take a photo tomorrow. I forget what it's called. Maybe phlox, but I'm probably wrong.
It's kind of crowded where it is so I'll transplant some of it in the autumn.

At Lowe's I bought a trap. You hang it at a distance from the roses and the beetles go to it rather than the flower. Only thing for me was, the bag of death (100's of beetles) sickened me and in the heat is does begin to stink.

My cucumber plant is dying, for some odd reason. I only got 4 cukes off of it.

you might want to spray your roses with soapy suds and wash off the residue after a few minutes - you'll have to experiment to find out how long it takes to dislodge the beetles .
don't leave the soap on too long because it'll damage the flowers , though not likely the roses .
you may have to repeat the procedure several times to get rid of the beetles - and they might re-appear next year .
perhaps start with just one rosebush and see how it works .

this may be a better solution >>> BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF JAPANESE BEETLES

Pity about the roses.

I have potato vines in containers on my deck. Some creature (I suspect woodchuck) has been systematically decimating them. Just a few nibbles a couple of days ago, bare swaths yesterday, and GONE today. Grr.

My back yard has turned into a freaking jungle. We've had so much rain (and so regularly) that we can't get out there to cut things back. A bunch of maple seedlings have grown six to seven feet in two weeks

I need to get out there in my camo gear and chop chop chop


(and figger out where to stash the yard waste bags til it's pick-up day - and hope they don't get soaked)

Woodchucks?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?

we arent going on a long vacation this year (work schedule) so weve taken our gardens to new experimental heights. Tomatoes are just starting to come in and we must be ahead of the chickens who love to peck one bite out of any tomato they can get to . we sacrifice a few low hanging tomats to the chickens, afterall we steal their unborn children for breakfast.

eoe, I've seen those bags. Not sure if they don't attract more beetles than they catch, though.

hamburger, I thought about the soapy water trick. Will that work on hard bodied insects? Have you tried it?

I was just out picking a few more beetles when a neighbor walked by. She said, "You know what works? That Sevin stuff they sell at Ace Hardware."

Poison, I tells ya! My method works and the beetles are just as dead. And all the good bugs are still alive.

next year use milky spore and /or nematodes. We used to have Japanese beetles and since weve started with the bacillus and the milky spore , we havent had any grub of any kind.

The best way to use Bagabugs is to buy a bunch and give em to your neighbors, you will be beetle free.

Penn State has been experimenting with IPM methods (Integrated pest management) by using pyrethrins, nematodes, and these tiny wasps that will burrow and lay eggs on the emerging J Beetle grubs.

I recommend introducing cane toads. One breeding pair ought to do it.

"Jenny Canetoad, have you met Mike Canetoad? Mike, this lovely lady is Jenny."

McTag

Farmerman, Aren't those types of pesticides indiscriminating? They will kill all grubs, no?

After doing some soapy water research - I remember some simple recipes we used to use but forget the exact details - and not wanting to fool around with the liquid soap with all the antibacterial or scenting crap in it from the stores, I bought a bottle of Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap concentrate (Potassium salts of fatty acids). Should last me fourteen years or so. What for? Well, the mealy bugs have found my front yard... possibly from a fairly recent purchase of a certain coral Salvia greggi.

Mealy bugs and sugar ants are pals, and this is major ant time here. (Well, so far not in the house except for the fateful day when I left bacon grease I meant to throw out in a can on the counter. Sheesh, the can almost crawled.

Anyway, I have mealy bugs on five lavender plants, one rosemary, one salvia, am fighting the good fight though the plants are looking a bit on the peaked side, as my grandmother would have said.

Various websites suggest systemics for mealy bugs, but I'm going the soap route first.

NO RAIN TODAY !!! sunshine all day !!!
so i managed to cut the whole lawn : front , side and back-yard .
took me a couple of hours - with breaks in between .
garden looks a little more respectable again - more rain tomorrow !!!
hbg

This is it.

Here's a picture of this particular bit today:

Corner of small patio at the back, pic taken today; no sun, unfortunately.



That reminds me, when it's drier, I must get the grass cut.

even though it's early august , it feels a bit like early fall : warm days , cooling off at night , plenty of rain and everything lush and green .
usually by this time of the year the grass is brown and flowers are dormant , but not this year ! it's really nice to see all the colours .

(just received our utility bill for the month of july : water and electricity consumption down from last year - bill is down $ 30 (about 15 %) over last year ! didn't need to do much watering and air-conditioning was less too )

part of our south-side garden :



view of south-garden through gate - flowers on extreme right :

If it is a clear night where yall are, check out the moon.